KingCo officeholders to McKenna: Don’t do it

Four prominent King County officials, all of them lawyers, are taking Attorney General Rob McKenna to the woodshed for his “unilateral decision” to challenge federal health care reform in court.

“This decision is particularly troubling when that unilateral decision is contrary to your client’s interests and wishes,” wrote the four.

“We share the frustration and disappointment of many Washingtonians, and write to express our objection to your decision to involve our state in this litigation.

The letter was circulated by King County Council Chair Bob Ferguson, a possible 2012 candidate for state attorney general.

It was signed by King County Executive Dow Constantine, State Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Adam Kline, and House Judiciary Committee chair State Rep. Jamie Pedersen.

They strongly defended the health care act, passed last Sunday, and amendments that cleared Congress on Thursday.

“The act increases the health security of our state’s residents by providing significant new protections to Americans from the most condemnable conduct of the health insurance industry,” they wrote.

“For example, insurance companies will no longer be able to place lifetime limits on coverage and will no longer be able to arbitrarily drop coverage when someone gets sick. The act also helps our senior citizens afford prescription drugs — a critical need that burdens too many of our seniors today.”

They noted that 150,000 King County citizens currently lack health insurance.

The health care debate goes on over the weekend. The King County Republican Party has invited its followers to join a midday pro-McKenna rally on Saturday at the State Capitol in Olympia.

The state Democratic Party is helping stage a health care celebration at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Boeing Machinists Hall in South Seattle. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will be on hand.

Kline and Pedersen are Democratic legislators from Seattle. Constantine and Ferguson hold offices that are officially non-partisan, but are longtime active Democrats.